1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motion assisting device for assisting a walking motion of a creature by applying to the creature an assisting force which assists a leg in moving with respect to a body.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to a first prior art (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2004-073649), a periodical walking motion of a creature, such as a human whose body such as a lower limb or the like is suffering from hypofunction, is assisted by applying a periodically varying force to the creature. According to a second prior art (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2007-061217), a periodical motion of a human can be assisted by adjusting a force applied to the human according to a second model (spring model) representing a behavior feature of a virtual elastic element so as to match a motion scale of the human to a desired motion scale thereof. According to the first and the second prior arts, the periodical motion of a creature can be assisted so as to match a motion rhythm of the creature to a desired motion rhythm thereof. Particularly, according to the second prior art adopting the spring model, the periodical motion of the creature can be assisted so as to match the motion scale of the creature to the desired motion scale thereof.
However, the first prior art and the second prior art can be further modified from the viewpoint of conducting a smooth motion of a plurality of legs of the creature.